Layup tools may be used to provide surfaces upon which composite materials may be applied and allowed to cure to form desired shapes.
Traditional layup tools may be made of metallic or composite materials. Fabrication time and cost of metallic layup tools may be prohibitive for prototype or developmental programs. Fabrication of composite layup tools is also costly and time-consuming, since additional molding steps are needed to produce the complex working surfaces of such tools. The time and/or cost to fabricate composite layup tools may be prohibitive for prototype or developmental programs. Moreover, tools utilizing low-cost materials, such as plaster, foam, etc., may lack the strength and/or reliability needed in robotic composite manufacturing applications.